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Europe
Greenland
(Sunday, March 30, 2025) On Thursday, four of the five parties elected to Greenland's parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalition that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature. The following day, Danish King Frederik X posted on Facebook: " There should be no doubt that my love for Greenland and my connectedness to the people of Greenland are intact." Hundreds of protesters demonstrated yesterday outside the U.S. Embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Usha, the vice president's wife, who was originally scheduled to attend the Greenland's national dogsled race opted out when her husband decided to join the trip and visit the military base instead, reducing the likelihood that they would cross paths with Greenlanders. Danish FM Rasmussen, in his video, reminded viewers of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations on the island, he said, to the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest with some 200 soldiers today. The 1951 agreement "offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland," he said. "If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it." Rasmussen added that Denmark has increased its own investment into Arctic defense. In January, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner (US$2.1 billion) in financial commitments for Arctic security covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites. (Source: NPR – U.S.)
Russia
30 March 2025 A ceasefire in Ukraine may not come into effect this year, top Kremlin official Karasin, a former ambassador to the UK, who led Russia's negotiating team with the US earlier this month, has warned. He said that the talks had not led to "any radical breakthrough yet, but the opportunities are there". (Source: LBC - United Kingdom)
Ukraine
30.03.25 Zelensky predicted that Russia could experience a decisive setback in the war. 'Putin will die soon,' calling it a 'fact' as per a report by the Mirror. Zelensky went on to add, ‘…it will come to an end,' while pleading with the United States to stay strong and continue the pressure on Moscow to stop its aggression. (Source: The Telegraph - India)
Asia
Iran
(Sunday), March 30, 2025 Iran's president said today that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, offering Tehran's first response to a letter President Trump sent to the country's supreme leader. Trump's letter came as both Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels of 60% purity - something only done by atomic-armed nations. Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb. A report in February, by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Iran has accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium. Pezeshkian had left open talks up until Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei came down hard on Trump in February and warned talks ’are not intelligent, wise or honorable’ with his administration. The Iranian president then immediately toughened his own remarks on the U.S. The last time Trump tried to send a letter to Khamenei, through the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019, the supreme leader mocked the effort. Trump's letter arrived in Tehran on March 12. He offered little detail on what he exactly told the supreme leader. Iran's reluctance to deal with Trump likely also takes root in his ordering the attack that killed Iranian Gen. Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike in January 2020. The U.S. has said Iran plotted to assassinate Trump over that prior to his election this November, something Tehran denied though officials have threatened him. Now, as the U.S. conducts intense airstrikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen, the risk of military action targeting Iran's nuclear program remains on the table. President Pezeshkian said Iran's response, delivered via the sultanate of Oman, left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington. Such talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Trump said before Pezeshkian's comments he was considering military action and secondary tariffs if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal. Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, published an article last week that included listing U.S. bases in the Middle East as possible targets of attack. The list included Camp Thunder Cove on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, where the U.S. is basing stealth B-2 bombers likely being used in Yemen. The Americans themselves know how vulnerable they are, warned Iranian parliament speaker Qalibaf on Friday. ’If they violate Iran's sovereignty, it will be like a spark in a gunpowder depot, setting the entire region ablaze. In such a scenario, their bases and their allies will not be safe.’ Tehran's two recent direct attacks on Israel with ballistic missiles and drones caused negligible damage, while Israel responded by destroying Iranian air defense systems. (Source: NPR / The Associated Press = U.S.)
Israel
30 March, 2025 As Israel resumed its war on the Gaza Strip, scores of brigade and battalion commanders said they were seeing an increased number of reservists saying they would not serve, due to Israel shattering the ceasefire deal with Gaza and failing to free captives held in the enclave. The army has also noted a marked decrease in reservists’ motivation, while scores of commanders and soldiers are reportedly exhausted after having to serve for hundreds of days in the past year. There was also a rise in ’gray refusals’, due to health, financial or family reasons, but in fact the decision stems from moral or political reasons. Some of the reasons include fear of the government ignoring rulings of the High Court of Justice, the government’s decision to oust Shin Bet chief Bar and the intention to remove the attorney general. Reserve units are now being forced to take reservists from other units not currently engaged in combat. (Source: The New Arab - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a Qatari company)
Yemen
2025-03-30 Today, Yemen’s Houthi group's military spokesperson reported that a Dhu al-Fiqar ballistic missile had successfully targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. In a separate attack, Houthi forces reportedly engaged US warships in the Red Sea, striking the USS Harry S. Truman three times within 24 hours using ballistic missiles, drones, and naval units. Yesterday, Houthi-affiliated media reported 13 US airstrikes on northern Yemen’s Saada province. Houthi officials estimate that at least 60 people have been killed since the US-led military campaign began on March 15. (Source: Shafaq News - Iraq)
North America
United States
Mar 30 2025 A confidential Pentagon document - a leaked memo from Defense Secretary Hegseth - focuses on deterring China's seizure of Taiwan and bolstering defense measures on U.S. soil. The interim guidance spans nine pages and bears striking resemblances to a more extensive report set for 2024 by the Heritage Foundation, involved with Project 2025, with several sections appearing almost verbatim when compared by The Washington Post. In the document, Trump insists that U.S. forces must be "ready to defend American interests wherever they might be threatened in our hemisphere, from Greenland, to the Panama Canal, to Cape Horn." The document underscores the importance of increased defense contributions from European nations, stating that this "will also ensure NATO can reliably deter or defeat Russian aggression even if deterrence fails and the United States is already engaged in, or must withhold forces to deter, a primary conflict in another region.' The United States, the guidance suggests, will provide nuclear deterrence against Russia but will only commit forces that are not essential for homeland security or missions related to China. (Source: The Mirror - United Kingdom)
March 30, 2025 'In Trump’s dragnet'. On March 14 the Republican-led Congress approved a $9.9 billion budget for immigration enforcement, an increase of about $500 million. Over the past two months, the president has been doing just what he promised during his campaign: assaulting every aspect of the US immigration system. (Source: The New York Review of Books - U.S.)
Oceania
Tonga
(Sunday), 30 March 2025 6:48 pm In the early hours of Monday (local time) a 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred about 100 kilometres northeast of Tonga’s main island. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert, warning that hazardous waves could affect coastlines within 300 kilometres of the epicentre. (Source: Outlook - India)
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